New home prices soaring in DFW

DALLAS-FORT WORTH – Median new home prices in North Texas have risen 24 percent since 2011 to $269,400 at midyear, according to Metrostudy Inc.

In popular areas, prices have gone up even faster. New home prices have risen 86 percent in North Dallas, are up 43 percent in Frisco and 36 percent higher in McKinney over the last three years.

Only 25 percent of the new home closings in the second quarter were for homes priced under $200,000, down from over 40 percent in 2011. The higher prices are forcing many buyers to the nearby submarkets of Melissa, Anna, Celina, Little Elm, Oak Point and unincorporated areas of Denton and Collin counties.

Median sales price for a new home is now more than a third higher than the median sales price for a preowned single-family home.

“We are expecting a 10 percent to 15 percent increase in starts during 2014, with the largest share of the increase coming from the first quarter,” Metrostudy’s David Brown said.

Fewer than 3,000 finished available new houses were on the market in North Texas at the end of June, down 12 percent from June 2013.